What is the difference between an "atheist" and a "non-theist"?

Answer 1

Atheist: One who denies or disbelieves the existence of a God.

“non-theism” refers to the idea that blind natural forces brought about those life-sustaining conditions, without any intervention from a divine being.

The non-theist doesn’t necessarily disbelieve in a divine being; rather, the non-theist would maintain that if a divine being does exist, it is a vastly different entity than what the theist imagines, and that being played no role in the creation of the cosmos.

Answer 2

A non-theist is someone who does not worship a deity. An atheist is someone who believes with strong conviction that no deity exists. It is possible to be a non-theist without being an atheist. All atheists, however, are by definition non-theists.

Edit: I'm amazed at how little here people know about the nature of atheism - including some who in their answers elsewhere who seem to have a lot to say against it! There is no atheist who believes in "nothing" - the atheist is as certain there is no deity as a theist is that there is. He or she would have some corresponding idea of what caused the creation of the universe and life on Earth, probably based on scientific evidence. In that sense they share with the theist a wish to understand the nature of being, what brought us here, the nature of morality, what happens to us when we die. A person who believes "nothing" is not an atheist, they are just apathetic.

Answer 3

Here are my (very) personal definitions for both concepts:

- A non-theist is freed from any question regarding religions. A non-theist has no religious belief. A non-theist can exist in a world that has no religion.

- An atheist believes that religions are fake. Therefore, an atheist is a kind of anti-theist. An atheist can only exist in reaction against theists. There cannot be atheists if there is no theists.

Answer 4

According to Wikipedia, it's just a "blanket term" for some other terms/labels. Some people use it differently than others though:

Nontheism (or non-theism), broadly conceived, according to Caporale & Grumelli (1971) , is the absence of belief in both the existence and non-existence of a deity (or deities, or other numinous phenomena). It is used somewhat differently by certain liberal theologians — such as Episcopal bishop John Shelby Spong and Anglican bishop John A.T. Robinson — who define a "nontheistic God" as "the ground of all being" rather than as a personal divine being. The word is often employed as a blanket term for all terms which are not theistic, including atheism (both strong and weak) and agnosticism, as well as certain Eastern religions like Confucianism, Taoism, and Zen Buddhism.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

"Non-theist" is a broader term. A "non-theist" can be any of the following:
- atheists,
- deists,
- pantheists,
- agnostics,
- humanists,
- others I forgot or simple ignore that they exist

Some definitions are used interchangeable though. Not all atheists are of the "strong atheism" branch as suggested by some replies.

Answer 7

A nontheist has no belief that there is an existence or non-existance of any sort of higher form of life. An atheist has the belief that there are no Gods. So the difference is this: atheists just believe that there is no god whereas nontheists believe that there is no evidence either proving that there is or is not the existence of a higher order.

Answer 8

I think a "Non-theist" is a broader term that can encompass a more diverse list of other labels people attach to themselves. Like atheist=atheist
non-theist= atheist, ufologism, pagan, wiccan, (more I don't know)

Answer 9

The atheist supposedly doesn’t believe in anything, religious or not religious, and the non-theist doesn’t believe in a religion, God.

Answer 10

An atheist does not beleive in God. But at the same time, Someone who does believe in God, but does not accept Jesus as their savior, does not repent of their sins, goes to hell with the atheist. For they are both lost.